Ball-bearing.



J. C. DOWELL.

BALL BEARING; APPLIOATION rrnnn 11213.16, 1009.

@440, I Patented June 8,1909.

INVENTOR provided to receive them; but

. unequal grinding and wear upon the bearing of metal or spun from a metal tube the balls tr snares arnnr onion JULIAN O. DOWELL, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COI UMBIA. BALL-BE ARIN G.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filedFebruary 16, 1909.

No. 924,440. Patented June 8, 1909.

Serial No. 478,059. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JULIAN C. DOWELL', a citizen of the United States, residing at ashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ball-Bearings and I do hereplates or flanges between which the balls are placed, but it has been found that if such a device is made of the required thickness and quality of metal to adapt them for practical use the flanges will be broken off or bent out of shape or mutilated so as to render by declare the following to be a full, clear, them unfit for use; and on the other hand, and exact description of the invention, such if the fiangesare thin enough and far enough as will enable others skilled in the art to apart to permit the balls to be inserted b which it appertains to make and use the tween them without breakage or mutilation, same. the balls will not be effectually confined and This invention relates to roller bearings and more particularly to that class of bearings in which spherical rollers'or balls are used to sustain or resist end thrust or pressure.

It is well known that when balls are used in. annular series unconfined except by the opposing surfaces of the box. or nuts and collars with which they contact they will inevitably crowd each other, and by reason, of the contact of oppositely rotating surfaces thereof will produce much friction and will get out of the spaces provided for them and as a result the cages will be ground up and crushed, with consequent breakage or injury to the bearings. The object of my invention is to provide a ball bearing of the character referred to which. shall possess, all of the advantages without any of the objections which are incident to the use of such bearings as heretofore f constructed; and to this end the invention consists in an improved end-thrust bearing constructedand adapted to operate substantially as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as a part of this specification, and in which the same reference letters are used to denote corresponding parts in different views, Figure 1 represents a vertical sectional elevation of a ball bearing embodying surfaces, thus impairing the efficiency and durability of the bearings. To avoid such difficulties various devices have heretofore! been employed for separating and holding the balls in se mrated relation, so as to keep them apart when in use in the bearings and i at the same time permit free rotation of the balls in" all directions, and also adopt them imyinvention; the section being taken on the to beptemoved in a body with the holder i line 1-1 of Fig. 2 and one of the balls being and separator without liability to drop out shown in the act of being forced through an when the bearings are taken apart. opening of lesser diameter than the ball; Fig. In order that the ball holding and-separat- 2 represents a side elevation of the bearing, a ing cages of the class to which this inventionv part thereof being broken away to show the relates may have sufficient strength and openings of different sizes through which the rigidity to do the work required of them, alls project in opposite directions ;Fig. 3is a they have heretofore usually been convertical sectional elevation of a similar ball structed in separable parts having suitable bearing showing thescrres of openings in one openings through which the balls projectside-plate or flange considerably smaller than in opposite directions, for contact with 0p the openings at theopposite side; and Fig. 4

posing bearing surfaces, such parts being is a diagrammatic representation of the secured together by'boits or otherwise after method of inserting the balls. I

inserting or placing the balls in Referring to said drawings, the letterA denotes a cylindrical body or ring having spaced flanges or plates B, B which extend from said body formed or-provided with a series of round openings 0, G which, as shown in F gs. 1 and 2, are approximately of the same site, or so nearly of the same size that the difference in cut or swaged from a solid block diameter is hardly perceptible to the eye, in

order that the balls may project to a con1- inserted bvspreading apart tl're two paratively great extent beyond the side the spaces such constructions are expensive in manufacture and j cause trouble and injury to the bearings,

y coming apart or allowing the fastening i bolts to drop out and clog the bearings. It i has also been suggested that a ball holding I and separating cage of the character referred l to may be held apart whenin use in the bearings, but

in parallel planes, and are each. ii

which are adapted to be inserted through the larger openings by virtue'of the resiliency of the metal, when su'llicient pressure is exerted to overcome the resistance due to the dill'erence between the diameter of the opening and the diameter of the ball, and, when thus inserted the ball cannot escape. It is well known that steel is highly resilient, and it has been demonstrated by experiment that such metal will yield or may be compressed to a certain extent, whereupon. it Wlll freely recover itself, as a spring under pressure suddenly relaxed, thus permitting balls of a given size to be inserted through an opening of smaller size through which they cannot escape nor be removed except by pressure on the opposite side equal to the pressure exerted in forcing them into the opening.

In the diagram Fig.- 4 of the drawings, I have shown on an enlarged scale a sectional view=0f portions of the flanges B, B, part 1 broken away, and it will be seen that the ball: which is denoted by the circle, has a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the opening C through which it is to be inserted and also greater than the diameter of the openings O in the flange B The difference in diameter, when the holder is made of hardened steel, may be such as to permit the insertion of the balls by. pressure of the 40 thumb, as shown in Fig. 1; the balls being snapped "into place as between two springmetal parts, the walls of the opening yielding sufficiently for this purpose, and then c0ntracting so as to prevent the ball from escaping.

The construction shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings is substantially identical with that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, except that there .is a greater diifcrcnce between the sizes of the openings in the two flanges; the openings E in flange B" being much smaller than the openin s t in flange B, and the flanges are farther apart than those of the construction shown in Figs. 1. and 2, which construc- 'tion permits less lateral play and freedom of movement of the balls, and permits them. to project to a less extentbcyond. the side walls of the structure than is pcrmitted'by the construction shown in liigs. 1 and 2; otherwise the two constructions are the same, and the balls are inserted and retained in the same manner.

\Vhen constructed as described and shown the act of inserting and removing the balls may be performed by machine or hand pressure, in the case of hardened steel or metal ymssessing suliicicnt resiliency, though the power .or force to be exerted will depend upon the difference between the size of the opening and the diameter of the ball to be inserted thcrctln'ough; and for greater certainty in insuring the retention of the balls with in the holder and preventing them from escaping or being removed by any ordinary pressure, it may be desirable in some cases to subject the holder to a degree of heat sufiicient to cause the metal to expand and onlarge tlie size of the openings and then insert the balls while the holes are thus enlarged, and when the metal cools and contracts it will be impossible to remove the balls by pressure or without breaking the holder.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Lettcrs Patent of the United States is 1. A ball-bearing consisting of a circular body of resilient metal having rigid spaced flanges, the flanges having openings therein, and balls projecting in opposite directions through said openings, the diameter of the openings being less than the diameter of the balls which are forcibly inserted there-- through and prevented from esca mg by virtue of the resiliency of the metall 2. A balhbearing consisting of circular body of hardened steel having integral annu lar end-flanges with openings therein and balls between projecting in opposite directions through said openings, the diameter of the openings being less than the diameter of the balls which are forcibly inserted there-- through and prevented from escaping l. y i tue of the resiliency of the metal.

3. A' ball-bearing consisting of a circular body having spaced annular flanges with openings therein and balls between projecting in opposite directions through said opell-- ings, the openings being normally smaller than the diameter of the balls which are forcibly inserted therethrough while. enlarged by the application of heat.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JULLAN (7. 110W lll'iii.

Vvitnesses Josnrn C. STACK, M. H. Yarns.

(ill

It is hereby certified the Lt in Letters' Pater'it No. 924,440, granted June 8,1909,

upon the application of Julian C. Dowel}, of Washington, District of Columbia), for

an'improvement in BallvBearingsflerrors appear in the printed specification requiring correction, as foll owjs'z Ii line 32, page 1, the word adept should reed adapt, and in line 9, page 2, the word wells shculd read balls; and that the said Letters Petent of the case in the Patent Office.

Signedend sealed this 29th day of June, A. D., 1909.

' [SEAL] should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record C. C. BlLLIN GS,

I Acting Commissioner of Patenta. 

